


Oxygen -- Short Story

by PrincessGoose



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28887894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessGoose/pseuds/PrincessGoose
Summary: I wanted to play around with Shepard's PTSD from her death in ME2. I might add onto this later, but for now it's complete.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	Oxygen -- Short Story

_Not again. Oh god, not again._

Shepard clawed at her helmet while her body spun slowly around and around, her legs kicking and flailing. Somewhere deep in her mind, she knew if she only looked up she would see the _Normandy_ in flames, but she saw nothing, heard nothing and felt nothing but panic. 

Silence, it seemed, was the only thing to greet her. It was unnerving. Shepard could feel the split in her suit, sense the cold seizing her limbs, but nothing mattered other than trying to inhale. 

Spinning. Still spinning. Her lungs screamed and her mind screamed back. _FIX IT, SHEPARD_ . _FIX US_ . No time to think, no time to breathe. _Breathe_ , Shepard.

Her tongue was caught in her throat, her mouth attempting to suck in the air that wasn’t there. Suffocation. Silence. What a terrible way to go. _Please, god, no._ Her fingers found no purchase, no way to fix the broken seal. 

Spinning. _Breathe, Shepard_. Panic. 

There was no light. No flash of memories. _What a shame_. 

“Breathe, Shepard!” 

She was at the bottom of a pool, surrounded by echos. Darkness. 

“ _Shepard!_ ” 

A terrible searing pain electrified her entire body and from the depths, she could see streaks of light illuminate the haze. The _Normandy_? No, a real explosion, not a memory. 

_She couldn’t breathe_. 

“Hold down her hands, she’s trying to take her helmet off.” Everything around her was muffled, the depths attempting to swallow her again. _Please, no_ . Another explosion. _Breathe, Shepard_.

Through the smoke screen and her dirt-covered helmet, she could see the stars. Only a moment. She was floating in orbit around Alchera, this time with the hindsight to enjoy the view. 

“We’re losing her again, Garrus.”

Shepard held her breath, hoping to enjoy it one last time. The light never came. _What a shame_.

\--

Shepard woke with a start, clawing at her throat for air. She gasped multiple times before realizing that she was breathing in perfectly fine, albeit slightly stale, air from within the _Normandy_. 

“Hey, hey now,” Doctor Chakwas cautioned as she walked over to Shepard’s side, gently taking the Commander’s hands into her own. “You’re safe now.” Shepard knew that voice. Something bad happened.

“What happened, doc? Did we lose someone?” The panic was stuck in her throat, her dry mouth refusing to produce anything more than bile and each swallow hurt more than the last.

Chakwas smiled her exhausted smile, ducking her head and shaking it slightly. “Lay back down, Commander. You’re a long ways off from doing anything other than sleep. Those damn cybernetics always make my job _challenging_ -”

“Please. Who did we lose?” Shepard refused for a moment, but her body betrayed her and wearily she lay back down on the uncomfortable hospital bed, the fluorescents casting a white glow around Chakwas’ leaning figure. 

“ _You_ , Shepard,” a voice sounded from the back of the Med Bay. Garrus sat up from one of the beds in the back, half concealed in shadow. 

He stood up, slowly, favoring his left leg and sporting a make-shift cast on his opposing arm. “Only for a minute, but you really had Tali worked up. She’s never lost you on the job before.”

“And that’s something you’re used to by now, Vakarian?” Shepard asked. She meant to sound chiding or at least upbeat, but her voice came out raspy and barely louder than a whisper. Concern crossed Garrus’ face, but only for a brief flash before he composed himself. 

“Enough to know that you always come back,” he chuckled. She smiled at that, contented.

“You _both_ should be resting. And if you are so keen to walk about Mr. Vakarian, then at least leave the Commander in peace, doctor’s orders.”

Garrus held up his unbound hand in mock surrender. “I could use a nap anyway, Shepard’s snoring was loud enough for the flight deck to hear.”

“I do _not_ snore,” Shepard said in an attempt to banter, but she could already feel herself slipping away--the IV filling her veins with sedative. With heavy eyelids, she surrendered--the bright lights twinkling into blurred constellations as her eyelids closed. 

_Breathe, Shepard_ . She swore Garrus’s voice whispered to her as she slipped. _Breathe_.

She dreamed of the stars.


End file.
